by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

If there’s one Claremont High Schooler who’s having one heck of a start to their senior year, it’s the multitalented Joy Cheng. The 18-year-old student-athlete recently learned she had won a full-ride scholarship to Princeton University, adding to this year’s successes as captain of CHS’s cross-country team, which recently won Palomares League and CIF-Southern Section titles.

The great news came in the form of an early morning email on December 1, 2025.

“I checked my email and there was a notification at around 6 a.m. that my application was out, and I banged on my parents’ door. I was like, ‘Wake up! My stuff is out!’ And then we opened it together. At first, there was just confetti. I was like, ‘Okay, I got in somewhere,’ and I kept reading and I was like, Princeton!

“I’ve been kind of walking on clouds since then.”

Ambitious Claremont High School senior Joy Cheng is heading to Princeton University in the fall after earning a full-ride scholarship. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The scholarship was awarded through the QuestBridge National College Match program, which “connects high-achieving high school seniors from low-income backgrounds with full four-year scholarships to the nation’s top colleges,” according to a news release at questbridge.org.

Cheng is the first Ivy Leaguer in her family.

“Part of me is a little bit scared,” she said. “But then the other part of me is really excited just because there’s so many opportunities at these higher institutions.”

She will begin as an undecided major. “That’s just how the Ivy League works,” Cheng said. “But I think I’m leaning towards more like architecture or something design based.”

Cheng applied for QuestBridge’s Prep Scholar program as a junior and the national match program in 2025. According to QuestBridge, “College Prep Scholars are over seven times more likely than other applicants to receive full four-year scholarships through the National College Match.”

In October 2025 she learned she was a finalist for the national match scholarship along with fellow CHS seniors Aabhisaar Shrivastav, Benafsha Akhgar, and Nika Cait Crisostomo. For two weeks, Cheng and others applied to up to 15 schools in their QuestBridge applications.

Though she also applied to Yale and Brown, Princeton was her first choice. After touring the campus in spring 2024 she wrote an all caps description in her phone notes: “Princeton. I like it so much.”

“Not sure what that meant, but no [other school] was in all caps, so I think that maybe shows something,” Cheng said.

Attending college has always been an important goal, but not necessarily one as prestigious as Princeton.

“Honestly, throughout the process, my goal was never to be like, ‘I want to get into an Ivy League. I want to get into Princeton,’” she said. “The goal was just to do what I love and do it to the best of my ability.”

Along with academics, Cheng has also excelled this year as captain of CHS’s cross-country team, leading the squad to Palomares League and California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Division 2 titles and runner-up at the CIF State Division 2 meet.

“She’s just so mature in everything that she does, and she’s so well organized and she really cares a lot about what she does,” said CHS cross-country coach Natalie Miano. “She doesn’t just do it just to check a box. She’s a huge motivator and she is just a great person to relate to. She’s extremely relatable for all the girls and I think she really was the epitome of hard work pays off.”

Cheng is also editor-in-chief of the CHS’s student newspaper, the Wolfpacket, and is a member of several clubs, including Artsy Fartsy, Interact, National Honors Society, and Voice for Change. Off-campus, she works with the Afghan Neighbors Club, which offers tutoring for Afghani refugees, and works at The Peel, a smoothie and acai bowl spot in the Village.

“It’s a blessing to just be in the position that I’m in and I just want to use that to my full potential and possibly give back to people who aren’t able to have the opportunities I do,” she said.

Though her more full — some might say overflowing — schedule may appear daunting to some, Cheng is undeterred.

“I really do enjoy doing everything that I do,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like a chore, but more like as like an opportunity to grow myself and … the different aspects of the things that I’m involved in.”

Cheng said she owes thanks to her family and the many friends and coaches who believed in her. She also singled out her second grade teacher at Baldwin Stocker Elementary in Arcadia, Mrs. Grace Sung, whom she credited with stoking her interest in journalism and writing.

“I haven’t told her yet,” Cheng said. “I think I will after this.”